By John Cackowski
State Director

Leading up to the start of the high school season, we will count down the Top 50 preseason teams every day as part of our comprehensive season coverage. The Top 50 teams are picked from all classifications, and are not divided up by class level. To see the entire list click here 

Team: Regis Jesuit
Preseason Rank: 4
2014 Record: 12-12
Conference: Continental
CHSAA Class: 5A
Head Coach: Matt Darr
Playoff Run: Lost to Grandview 9-4 in 5A State Playoffs
2015 Final Rank: 31
Returning Starters: 6
Returning Pitchers: 5

TOP PLAYERS:
Bo Weiss, RHP, No. 1 2016(North Carolina)
Quin Cotton, OF, No. 5 2016  (Grand Canyon)
Travis Marr RHP/1B, No. 7 2016 (Clemson)
Ryan Vottiero, OF, No. 42 2016
Nick Spiliotis, RHP, No. 46 2016 (Dayton)
A.J. Fell, RHP/1B, No. 84 2016
Patrick Kenny, C, No 141 2016 (Wittenberg)
Caleb Sloan, RHP, No. 1 2017
Austin Chouinard, 3B, No. 10 2017
Jimmy Holinger, MIF, No. 51 2017

 OTHER PLAYERS THAT COULD MAKE AN IMPACT
Brodie Marino, C, 2018
Nathan Schraeder, P, 2018

X-FACTOR:
Consistent play this year will be the key for The Raiders. The Raiders always play in one of the top out of state tournaments every year whether it's the IMG Classic in Florida, or the NHSI in Cary, North Carolina. However last year they were up and down all year and were sitting with a 6 and 10 record and had to win their last 3 games to finish 9-10 and squeak into the playoffs in which they eventually made the 5A Final 8.
 
KEY PLAYERS LOST:
Brent Schwarz, RHP: Rice
Matt Schmidt, 3B: University of Texas
Aidan Cameron, SS: University of Central Florida

STAT RAT:
The Raiders need to cut down on their strikeouts in 2016. Raider hitters struck out an alarming 156 times in 2015.

BOTTOM LINE:
You could have argued that the Raiders had as much talent as anyone in 2015. They had 3 division players in Matt Schmidt, Aidan Cameron, and Brent Schwarz. Schwarz would eventually get drafted by the Colorado Rockies. They barely made the playoffs with a 9-10 record, but then turned it on and made the 5A Final 8. This year they bring back a lot of experience in 2016, and they should be considered the favorite to win the 5A title. 2016 Bo Weiss (North Carolina) is a polished product now, and will draw a ton of professional scouts to every game he pitches. Weiss has three pitches he can all command for strikes now, including his fastball that usually sits between 90 and 91 mph. When you pair Weiss with 2016 RHP Travis Marr (Clemson) who can also touch the low 90's, and 2017 Caleb Sloan who recently was 91 mph at our recent Preseason All-State event on 2-28 they are not only the only team who has three starters who throw in the 90's in the state, but one of the few programs in the country who can say that. Marr also hit .382 last year with 2 homeruns. On top of those three, they have Dayton commit Nick Spiliotis coming back as well giving them 4 very solid options. We feel the Raiders also possess the best hitter in the state in 2016 OF Quin Cotton (Grand Canyon). Cotton has 100 mph bat speed, and last year hit .457 with 6 doubles, 5 triples, and 4 homeruns. The Raiders also have a tough leadoff hitter in Ryan Votterio who hit over .300 last year.  2017 3B Austin Chouinard had a solid sophomore campaign starting and hitting .286 driving in 13 runs with a homerun in 77 AB's. 2017 MIF Jimmy Holinger hit .333 last year as a sophomore in 57 at bats and is versatile to play 2B or SS. The Raiders also have deep talent pool. If they score runs, and we are talking 4 a game..they will be extremely tough to beat in 2016.